1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fully-swallowable endoscopic system which can be retained in the patient""s body for a long time, wherein few blind spots occur in an endoscopy examination.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an endoscopy examination, in general, an insertion portion connected to an operation portion is introduced into a patient""s body through his or her mouth to observe a target inner part of the body. In a typical front-view endoscope for viewing from the front of the tip of the insertion portion, or a typical side-view endoscope for viewing from the side of the insertion portion, a target inner part of the body can be viewed from only a single direction. Due to this structure, in the case of observing an inner part of a largely-bent tubular passage in a body such as part of the large intestine, the occurrence of blind spots in the endoscopy examination cannot be avoided.
The body insertion portion of the endoscope must be sometimes inserted and retained in the body for a long time to observe the progress of a diseased part within the body or obtain and/or record somatoscopic information of a patient under ordinary every-day living conditions. However, the insertion and retainment of the endoscope in the body through the patient""s mouth causes the patient to suffer from significant pain.
To relieve pain from the patient, it is known to use a capsule type endoscope which is provided at an intermediate portion of a flexible continuous member, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 64-76822. A patient to be examined swallows a soft ball formed at a tip end of the flexible continuous member the night before the day of examination, so that the soft ball is discharged from the patient""s anus the next day. An operator pulls or moves the tip end and the tail end of the flexible continuous member to thereby move or guide the capsule connected to the intermediate portion of the flexible continuous member.
In the capsule type of endoscope described above, the pain that the patient suffers can be eased in comparison with conventional endoscopes. However, the patient must always carry the flexible continuous member whose one end extends out of his or her mouth for more than 12 hours. Consequently, it is impossible for the patient to take a meal or speak. Under these circumstances, no substantial pain relieving effect can be expected. Moreover, it is generally difficult to control the position of the endoscope when in the form of a capsule.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a fully-swallowable endoscopic system which can relieve a patient to be examined from pain and which makes it possible to observe the target inner part of the body surely and precisely.
To achieve the object mentioned above, according to the present invention, a fully-swallowable endoscopic system is provided, which includes a rod-shaped endoscope body which can be swallowed entirely by a patient to be examined so as to be placed in a body cavity, the rod-shaped endoscope body including at least one bendable portion which is bendable along a curve of the body cavity; and an external device provided separately from the rod-shaped endoscope body having no mechanical connection with the rod-shaped endoscope body. The rod-shaped endoscope body is provided therein with at least two light emitters, at least two observing systems, a transmitter for transmitting a radio wave which carries an image formed by the observing system; and a power supplying device. The external device includes a receiver for receiving the radio wave which carries the image.
Preferably, one of the at least two light emitters and one of the at least two observing systems are provided in one of the opposite ends of the rod-shaped endoscope body, and another one of the at least two light emitters and another one of the at least two observing systems are positioned in the other of the opposite ends of the rod-shaped endoscope body.
Each of the one and the another of the at least two observing systems can be a front-view observing system for viewing from the front of a corresponding one of the opposite ends of the rod-shaped endoscope body.
In an embodiment, one of the at least two observing systems is a front-view observing system for viewing from the front of a corresponding one of the opposite ends of the rod-shaped endoscope body; and the another one of the at least two observing systems is a side-view observing system for viewing from the side of the rod-shaped endoscope body.
Preferably, the rod-shaped endoscope body includes at least one flexible portion which is constituted from at least one bendable portion and which bends when an external force is applied to the at least one flexible portion. Each of the at least one bendable portion is provided therein with a bending portion which can be radio-controlled to bend by an operation of the external device. The rod-shaped endoscope body is provided therein with a radio-controlled driving device which receives a radio operational signal transmitted from the external device to bend the bending portion in accordance with the radio operational signal. The external device includes an operational portion which is operated to transmit the radio operational signal to the radio-controlled driving device.
In an embodiment, the at least one bendable portion includes a plurality of bendable portions arranged at different positions in the longitudinal direction of the rod-shaped endoscope body.
In an embodiment, the radio-controlled driving device includes a plurality of drive wires made of a shape memory alloy, and a selective-heating device which selectively heats the plurality of drive wires to bend the bending portion.
The power supplying device can be a built-in battery.
Preferably, the external device includes a microwave transmitter for transmitting a microwave to the rod-shaped endoscope body. The power supplying device converts the microwave into electrical current to supply the electrical current to the rod-shaped endoscope body.
Preferably, each of the at least two observing systems includes an objective optical system and a CCD image sensor.
Preferably, the external device includes a monitor which visually indicates the image.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a fully-swallowable endoscopic system is provided, which includes a rod-shaped endoscope body having at least one bending portion, at least one flexible portion connected to the at least one bending portion, at least two light emitters, corresponding at least two image pick-up devices, each taking an image of a target inner part illuminated by a corresponding one of the at least two light emitters, and a transmitter for transmitting a radio wave which carries the image taken by each of the at least two image pick-up devices; and a radio controller for manipulating the at least one bending portion to bend by radio-control.
Preferably, the rod-shaped endoscope body further includes a first hard portion fixed to one of the opposite ends of the rod-shaped endoscope body, wherein one of the at least two light emitters and one of the at least two image pick-up devices are fixed to the first hard portion.
Preferably, the rod-shaped endoscope body further includes a second hard portion fixed to the other of the opposite ends of the rod-shaped endoscope body, wherein the another one of the at least two light emitters and another one of the at least two image pick-up devices are fixed to the second hard portion.
Preferably, the radio controller includes a monitor and a receiver for receiving the radio wave to indicate the image on the monitor.
Preferably, the radio controller further includes a second transmitter for transmitting a microwave to the rod-shaped endoscope body, and wherein the rod-shaped endoscope body is provided therein with a power supplying device which receives the microwave to convert the microwave into electrical current which is to be used as a power source of the rod-shaped endoscope body.
The present disclosure relates to subject matter contained in Japanese Patent Application No.11-160032 (filed on Jun. 7, 1999) which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.